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As a new study warns of the enormous impact climate change will have on life in the Great Lakes region, Rockford area residents were scrambling this week to protect their homes from record floodwaters.

Chicago mayor's race

The exchange was the highlight of the second one-on-one televised debate ahead of the April 2 runoff election that gave each candidate the opportunity to touch on their plans for education, crime reduction, urban development, city revenue and more.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi dominates the headlines each week. At 78, her power and political influence has earned her respect and admiration. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the subject of two newly released films, is an icon at 86. Glenn Close, 72, received a standing ovation when awarded...

In 2016, Donald Trump overwhelmed 16 qualified Republican primary rivals and became the first major-party presidential nominee without prior political or military experience. Against even greater odds, Trump defeated in the general election a far better funded and politically connected Hillary...

Sports

Kris Dunn is a different player when Zach LaVine isn’t in the Bulls lineup. That’s not as much an observation as it is a fact. Dunn is averaging 10.3 points and 5.9 assists on 40.3 percent shooting when LaVine plays and 17.1 points and 7.1 assists on 49.2 percent shooting when he doesn’t. So the...

The White Sox season starts March 28 in Kansas City, Mo. Here are six things to know about what to expect in 2019. 1. Expect more wins. This not a bold prediction. The Sox lost 100 games last season for the first time since 1970 and just the second time since 1948, so they’re due for more success....

The Cubs’ season starts March 28 in Texas. Here are six things to know about what to expect in 2019. 1. Yes, this is a season of “reckoning.” “Reckoning” is Cubs President Theo Epstein’s description of what’s at stake in 2019, after a disappointing finish to 2018. In the short term, this is likely...

Business

When the NCAA men’s basketball tournament tips off Thursday, millions of viewers at offices across the country will huddle over their screens of choice, doing their level best to look busy while toggling between spreadsheets and the Michigan State – Bradley game. Welcome to March Madness, an annual...

Representatives of a large company have met with village engineers as part of a due diligence process leading to the possible purchase of the McDonald’s campus property in Oak Brook, Village President Gopal Lalmalani said Tuesday. Lalmalani stopped short of identifying the company interested in...

A bold proposal to put skyscrapers and a massive new transit center atop train tracks near Soldier Field could be headed for major changes, less than a week after the potentially transformative project was unveiled. The multibillion-dollar plan led by Wisconsin-based developer Bob Dunn created...

Grassroots Cannabis raised $90 million to expand its operations in Illinois and across the country, becoming the latest Chicago-based marijuana company to bring in a sizable round of funding. The money will be used to further develop Grassroots’ cultivation facility in Litchfield, about 210 miles...

Entertainment

In film, the director holds the creative top spot. But in television, that position is almost always held by a writer, aka the showrunner. A quick primer on how it works: Showrunners are the key decision-makers on a series, from casting to determining a season’s narrative arc to hiring a writers...

C2E2 isn’t the only cosplay-bursting, multi-day pop culture-con in Chicago this year. Far from it. (In fact, in a few weeks, McCormick Place hosts the semi-regular, Lucasfilm-organized Star Wars Celebration, which will be way bigger.) C2E2, however, now in its 10th iteration, lands points for variety....

Opening Friday at the Music Box, the wry, environmentally friendly Icelandic eco-activist fairy tale “Woman at War” features the actress Halldóra Geirharðsdóttir in a dual role. This must be the week! Lupita Nyong’o is about to blow everybody’s minds as the dazzling double act at the heart of Jordan...

As far as neighborhood taverns go, Danny’s is a great one. It is a dark and cozy place at 1951 W. Dickens Ave. and one night a couple of years ago a man named Monte Beauchamp was sitting there reading a biography of J.D. Salinger and drinking sidecars. Salinger, of course, was the notoriously private...

Life & Style

Here are some of the more interesting events, deals, websites and other travel tidbits that have come across our desk recently: •Fans of Frank Lloyd Wright will be happy to know that house tours at Taliesin, the Wright estate in Spring Green, Wis., will resume after the winter hiatus. Beginning...

A long-running study questions the conventional wisdom that a healthy diet may help ward off dementia. European researchers followed more than 8,200 middle-aged adults for 25 years — looking at whether diet habits swayed the odds of being diagnosed with dementia. In the end, people who ate their...

The 24-hour Wash Time laundromat at Fullerton and Cicero, sprawled next to a Family Dollar store in a plaza in Belmont-Cragin, was buzzing at 9 a.m. Wednesday morning , the aisles jammed with people in business clothes, awaiting a visit from Chelsea Clinton, who would be cutting the ribbon on a...

For two years in a row, more than 100 newsroom leaders from across the country have gathered to discuss what they’ve learned in the wake of #MeToo revelations that rocked the media industry — and just about every other industry. On Tuesday, the Freedom Forum Institute, a nonpartisan foundation...

RedEye

Bonnaroo is bringing part of the farm to the city. For three days this week, the Tennessee music festival — which goes down on a massive, 650-acre farm — will host a series of events in Chicago as part of Bonnaroo’s “Ready to Roo” Tour. Overall, the series will hit 14 cities in three weeks, and...

When the Chicago weather starts to turn tolerable, you can expect almost every weekend to bring a new batch of races to the city’s streets and parks, letting athletes show off their skills and raise money for the charity of their choice. Even if you’re not a dedicated runner, some races go hard...

The NCAA Division 1 Men’s Basketball Tournament — the round of 64, not the play-in games — kicks off March 21, so it’s time to get your brackets ready and figure out where you’ll be watching all the action. These 17 spots are offering food and drink specials to keep college fans fueled throughout...

Most read stories today

“Lasers are on,” the tour guide announces. “You can blaze.” As beams of light shoot across the inside of the minibus, passengers take their cue to pull out marijuana joints and pipes and light up. A haze of smoke fills the bus, and a dozen smokers generously trade hits with each other. Minutes...

Attorneys who represent victims of sexual abuse by priests have released what they say is the most comprehensive list yet of Catholic clergy with ties to Illinois who have been accused of misconduct against children. The list includes about 400 priests and lay people who at one time served in parishes...

Since Donald Trump became president, so many amazing things have happened, according to Donald Trump. But the thing I most appreciate is how he has, at long last, restored dignity to the office of the presidency. Why, just Wednesday morning, he responded to criticism from the husband of one of...

As the Rock River began to rise near the riverfront village of Machesney Park, homeowner Jack Dillon assembled a crew of contractors, friends and family to shore up his two-story house. The team fortified the perimeter with stacks of sandbags. They arranged and operated an elaborate network of...

Picking favorites to advance in the NCAA Tournament is a solid strategy to rack up points in your bracket pool, but you will need to find some upsets and Cinderella teams to get the edge you need to take first place. The teams best built to topple favorites are the ones that have a high scoring...

The 2020 presidential campaign has begun in earnest, with a variety of candidates either entering the race or announcing exploratory committees that allow them to begin fundraising. The Iowa Caucuses are months away (Feb. 3, 2020) but candidates are already scrambling for momentum in a crowded...

Despite twice hosting "Saturday Night Live" — appearances in 2004 and 2015 that surely were helpful to his rise — the President of the United States is no longer a fan of the late-night comedy show. “It’s truly incredible that shows like Saturday Night Live, not funny/no talent, can spend all of...

A 20-year-old Northwestern University pre-med student charged with sexually assaulting an 18-year-old student was released Wednesday after posting the cash portion of a $50,000 bond, law enforcement officials said. Scott Thomas, 20, a Northwestern freshman from Bernardsville, N.J., is charged with...

In some ways, the state of Chicago’s race for mayor boiled down to a single moment in a televised debate Wednesday night when Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and former federal prosecutor Lori Lightfoot were given the opportunity to ask each other a question. Trailing in recent days...

I’ve just taken a good, long hit on the Kasshish pipe, and now my eyes are finally open to the wisdom of Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. Kasshish makes you see reality, but it also gives you the munchies, so if you don’t mind, I’d very much like a plate of “Cold Omelets with Crab Meat,”...

A mother and her boyfriend have been charged in the child abuse death of a 2-year-old boy, whose bruised body was found in his home in the Washington Park neighborhood on the South Side on Monday evening. Dejon Waters, 21, was charged with first-degree murder and Brittany Hyc, 28, was charged with...

With Minnesota coach Richard Pitino out to avenge Louisville’s firing of his father, Rick, at 11:15 a.m. Thursday on CBS, the NCAA Tournament’s Round of 64 really gets rolling. By the time Vermont-Florida State tips at 1 p.m. on TBS, four games could be going on simultaneously, what with New Mexico...

Backing favorites is always a savvy play when it comes to filling out your bracket. After all, the top seeds advance more than 70 percent of the time during March Madness. But the big dogs don't always bark come NCAA Tournament time. And The Washington Post has had a pretty good track record over...

President Donald Trump on Wednesday escalated his unrelenting attacks on the late senator from Arizona and former GOP presidential nominee John McCain, who even in death has remained one of Trump's top targets for criticism as fellow Republicans have repeatedly begged him to stop. In a five-minute...

Lauren Isackson’s athletic credentials were dwarfed by those of her teammates. She joined the vaunted UCLA women’s soccer program in 2017 alongside members of the U.S. and Canadian national teams — elite athletes accustomed to dominating the high school and club circuits, being the best in their...

Chance the Rapper, the hip-hop superstar and aspiring philanthropist, endorsed Toni Preckwinkle’s mayoral campaign Thursday, offering the county board president some star power and a renewed shot to recruit young voters in the waning days of the city’s historic mayoral election. Chance endorsed...

The New York Stock Exchange community, including more than 300 traders, is suspending its "no jeans allowed" policy on Thursday to celebrate Levi Strauss & Co. returning to the public markets. More than 120 employees from Levi's global offices including its CEO Chip Bergh are taking part in the...

Say you went to the National Museum of African American History & Culture here with an eye on Chicago alone. Say you restricted your visit to this newish Smithsonian institution solely to those artifacts obtained from the Chicago area. You would have a full, albeit parochial, day ahead: There’s...

Illinois House Democrats are laying out four potential paths for legalizing sports betting in the state, with options ranging from creating a limited number of licenses for existing casinos and horse tracks to allowing gamblers to place bets wherever lottery tickets are sold. Democratic Gov. J.B....

Chicago adventurer Alexander Pancoe has traveled to some of the most desolate places on Earth and scaled mountains with fearful body counts. But the most danger he has faced in his quest to achieve the Explorers Grand Slam, a feat that involves scaling the highest mountain on each continent and...

It was during a rushed but otherwise typical Tuesday morning when Jeff Frank of North Aurora went to wake his 16-month-old son, Emmett, and noticed him in an unusual sleeping position: a yoga child’s pose. When he turned him over, Emmett was already gone. Joe and Nicole Wesolowski, of Naperville,...

Oh, grown-ups. Where did we veer so spectacularly off-course when it comes to the entire point of college? How did we arrive at a day when celebrities and CEOs are being charged with bribing and cheating to get their kids into elite schools? What does it mean when 50 defendants — including actresses...

An American figure skater has been accused of deliberately kicking a South Korean during warm-ups at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships, triggering a request for an investigation by the sport's global governing body and an accusation of bullying. Mariah Bell, 22, allegedly kicked 16-year-old...

The Tribune’s Brad Biggs answers your Bears questions weekly. What does Jordan Howard’s trade market look like? Is it more likely he will be cut than traded at this point? — @shaneloew776 I don’t think Howard’s value for other teams has changed much now that we are one week into the new league...

A state lawmaker and a major advocacy group are pushing stiffer penalties for short-staffed nursing homes as a way to limit deadly sepsis infections and boost overall care. “You would think that anytime you put your loved one in a nursing home, the care would be there, because it’s supposed to...